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[Descan]

This seems more of a "This'll keep you going" thing, than a "This will replace everything" thing. Even though from the sounds of it, it will be able to replace everything. So the terms are a little wrong. *shrug*

The difference being that if you WANT to eat a steak, burger, go out on a date, you can without any special preparation.

Which is exactly how it should be.

I'm all for it!

[PanH]

Ramens were my example because they're extremely cheap. At 2 meals a day, you can go for 1.50$ (75cents for the big bowl of ramen +water, but well), and I'm not even sure that's the cheapest (though it's probably here).
While the concept is interesting, it's not really because of his price (but that helps).

[Moghjubar]

Hrmm, interesting.  Sounds like it could basically be a 'liquid diet' and help a lot of people (and of course we do have those now, this just is more complete). 

I wonder about the microbial activity in his colon though.

In any case, obviously a bunch of folks need to get together and have a soylent party.

[Frumple]

Ramens were my example because they're extremely cheap. At 2 meals a day, you can go for 1.50$ (75cents for the big bowl of ramen +water, but well), and I'm not even sure that's the cheapest (though it's probably here).
While the concept is interesting, it's not really because of his price (but that helps).

And... yeah, I'd be wondering where you're at, or if you're using the fancier ramen. Ramen here's about a dime for a pack of the cheap stuff (bit more nowadays, but it's still like $0.12 USD, and a pack is two servings) if you buy it alone and less if you get it in bulk. Water... again, cut out that dime and 60 cent is about 3/4ths of a gallon of water (which runs upper 70s to lower 90s for a gallon of bottled stuff. Tap's cheaper. Looking at about five cent a cup, or another dime added onto the ramen.), which would be enough water for about six packs of ramen if I'm running the numbers right (16 cups/gallon, 2 cups/ramen, 3/4th 8 = 6). 75 cent counting just water and ramen would be something like a 350% increase from what's normal where I'm at. Cooking portion eats up a bit more (though looking into it, not exactly much*). 75 cent would be more in line if you're throwing more stuff in there or using the more expensive stuff, but just ramen and water is considerably less, at least where I'm at.

Maybe if you added in transportation cost, but it's pretty easy to mitigate that into what amounts to nonexistence with non-perishables. Just get a year or so's worth of ramen in one go, or an amount equal to however much the particular foodstuff you're after can stand being stored.

Spoiler: * Google pulled up this as a first link (click to show/hide)

How much do various cooking methods cost?

This table shows the difference in cost between various oven cooking methods.  Notice that some types require less time to achieve a similar result; so the convection oven is 25% faster than other regular ovens.  The costs shown ought to be what it takes to cook the same food in each.
   Temperature
(degrees F)   Time   Energy Used    Cost per unit    Cost

Toaster oven   350   1 hour   0.33 kWh   $.08/kWh   $0.03

Microwave oven   High   15 minutes   0.36 kWh   $.08/kWh   $0.03

Stove top, electric    High (about 420 F)   1 hour   0.9 kWh   $.08/kWh   $0.07

Crockpot   200   7 hours   0.70 kWh   $.08/kWh   $0.06

Gas oven   350   1 hour   0.112 therm    $.60/therm   $0.07

Electric Convection oven   325   45 minutes   1.39 kWh   $.08/kWh   $0.11

Gas oven, electric ignition   350   1 hour   0.112 therm
+0.35 kWh    $.60/therm   $0.07

Electric oven (standard)   350   1 hour   2.0 kWh   $.08/kWh   $0.16
---
Going by the electric stovetop, you'd be looking at $0.07/20 USD per bowl with the standard 3 minute cook. Microwave' actually looks to be a bit more expsnive (and I cook for 5 with nuked ramen, so far), but it's still something like an extra penny.

[Nilik]

I would so totally do this. As soon as its available in the shops and confirmed to not kill people, I'm giving it a shot. I mean I know he's tried it for a month with no issues, but there could always be some obscure vitamin or mineral that causes your head to fall off after 2 months if you're not getting enough of it. I'd like to avoid that.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Generally, missing obscure microvitamins/minerals won't kill you. It might have a negative effect of some kind, but you probably aren't at much higher risk of not getting it drinking Soylent than eating food, as it would be obscure.

[Flying Dice]

That, essentially. If it was missing anything critical, you'd almost certainly notice. That aside, hard-line vegans and such already have to use dietary supplements, so it wouldn't exactly be new territory, and if it was only some obscure thing, you could probably add it to the soylent without complicating the preparation much. All that said, I still wouldn't choose to live solely off of soylent if I had the money to do otherwise. The preparation is also a potential problem for people who don't have the time to cook traditional food, but if it took off enough mass production could solve that.

[Rose]

With how often I'm lazy to cook a proper meal, I, for one, would love the soylent option.

[Loud Whispers]

The danger of a diet like this is there are probably other nutrients in food that the body requires that we haven't discovered yet, so if you do try a diet like this, eat a meal of real food occasionally so you don't die.

I for one enjoy eating and cooking, so I don't really see the appeal.

Unlikely. Worse comes to worse, rejoice! You have furthered the knowledge of human understanding.

[Sheb]

Yeah, his obsession with chemicals made him miss the point that the cheapers ources of most nutrients are actually not the pure nutrients, but raw natural products (rice for exemple).

anyway, I still registered for the trials, but I'm not expecting much since I'm half a world away. Sure seems interesting though.

[Gervassen]

Peanuts are all you need. Soylent Brown. High protein and tasty.

And Oats. Oats, peanuts, barbell squats = big strapping lad.

[Ultimuh]

So how long does it take to prepare all of this compared to cooking?
Any way, I like eating way too much to ever buy into this gimmick.
Also, I do like to experiment with cooking once in a while, try out different seasonings and such..

[SalmonGod]

Re: It's possible to eat super cheap anyway.

Another benefit of the soylent option would be to know exactly what you're getting.  There is A LOT of fraud in the food industry today.  You may believe that eating X foods get you Y nutrients, but if what you're buying isn't actually X foods, then that doesn't work.  Even without that issue, avoiding all the unhealthy additives in most food today would also be nice, and easing the strain on your body from processing food could have incredible benefits.

[Sheb]

Although we don't really know what effect easing the absorption of nutrients would have. For all we know it promote cancers. Or prevent it. Or whatever.

I'd love to have a look at his intestinal flora though.

[Rose]

Literally everything on earth both causes and cure cancer, depending on who you ask.